Countdown to Destiny
by Nyx Kerry
Summary: Emilia Fletcher- an incredibly shy girl, who knows how to speak an ancient language without being taught it. Sent on a journey by a mysterious girl in a black cloak who urges her to become the great healer she is destined to become. Can Emilia find the strength to follow her destiny? And cope with being transported to a different world- excuse me, worlds?
1. Prologue

Once upon a time… there was a girl who was given the adventure of a lifetime by a lonely broken Truth.

Before the girl who would become Sun left her island home, before the Phantom Thief donned her mask, before Death slowly began to die, even before a mad sorceress' experiment escaped, there was a gentle 'tick-tock', counting down the days left until the gate between worlds opened.

Onward to the future, then backward to the past. Here the pendulum stops for only a moment, letting us peer into the past. The truth must be known. Turn back the gears, turn back the clock.

This is the story of one young Miss Emilia Fletcher, and how she fell down her rabbit hole.


	2. Day One, Hour Zero

**Day One- Hour Zero**

When Emilia was very young, she spoke gibberish. This would be normal, if she didn't have English translations for the gibberish. It was like a whole new language. Her parents will tell it was cute and melodic-at first. But, at ten years old, she was still slipping into that gibberish! At school, she laughed it off and hid behind a veil of red hair and wire glasses. As she grew older she became more and more afraid of slipping up and started talking less and less. In high school she had very few friends because she always kept to herself.

Emilia found comfort in her garden. Her father was a well-known surgeon and her mother was a stay at home mom. They were not filthy rich, but they were very well off. Emilia's house had a very large garden that Emilia tended to. Emilia had an affinity for roses and daisies, and also grew many healing herbs she had read about in her great-great-great grandmother's diary. The Fletcher's had a long line of healers.

One fateful day Emilia went for a walk in the garden when she saw a figure cloaked in black. The figure looked at her and said,

"And so it begins."

And with that, everything went black.

Emilia came to in a very strange looking place. All around her was swirling gray. There were no walls, or floors, or ceilings.

"Hello, young healer," said the same voice she had heard before, and just then, Emilia noticed that the figure, who, by the sound of her voice, was a girl, was talking in Emilia's gibberish.

"How…how can you speak in that…How do you know that….How?" asked Emilia, not sure which question to ask first.

"What I'd like to know is how you are able to speak Old Kelestian," said the girl.

"Old…Kelestian? What's that?" asked Emilia.

"Shouldn't you know? You've been speaking it this whole time. And so have I," said the girl.

"You mean it isn't just gibberish? It's an actual language? How do I know how to speak it?" asked a very relieved and curious Emilia.

"Yes, what others have told you is gibberish is a very old, very sacred language. Why you know how to speak it, only time will tell. You will have a very important role in events to come, I can see that much. I have brought you here to send you off on a dangerous journey."

"A dangerous journey? Sorry, I'm not the fighting type. I think you've got the wrong girl."

"Of you aren't the fighting type. You are a mage, and your powers, while still raw and untrained, are great," Said the girl as she took out a small object bundled in cloth.

"…What's that?" asked Emilia warily.

"Something you should take care of, young healer. Now, take this and go," said the girl as she tossed the bundle to Emilia, who cautiously unwrapped the object. It was a rather large pocket watch. At least, that's what it looked like on the outside, but Emilia wasn't sure what to make of the inside. The inside had hands and a face like a watch, but the circle was divided into a larger outer circle, and a smaller inner circle. The outer circle had a "1" where the "12" should be, and a "2" where the "6" should be. The inner circle was divided and labeled with 1-24.

"Wait, what is this? Who are you? Where am I going-" Emilia was cut off as a wave of nausea hit.

"Have fun!" was the last thing Emilia heard before blacking out. Again.


	3. Day One, Hour One

"Come on guys! Give the poor girl some space!" Said a girl's voice as Emilia's vision started to clear.

"She's awake!" exclaimed an excited male voice. Emilia could see three people; a boy with silver hair that seemed to defy gravity, a girl with short brown hair and emerald eyes, and another boy with spiky black hair.

"Obviously, Eraqus," scoffed the silverette.

"Wh-where am I? Who are you?" asked Emilia, dazed.

"Welcome to the Land of Departure! I'm Catherina" the girl said, pointing to herself. "That's Eraqus," she pointed to the black haired boy, "And that's-"

"I'm Xehanort," said the silver haired boy.

"What's your name?" asked Eraqus.

"It's…Emilia," she said quietly, reverting back to her shy personality. Emilia took this chance to look at her surroundings. She was in a spare bedroom that overlooked the strangest training yard she had ever seen. Then she noticed her clothes were not the ones she had fainted in. She was wearing a sky blue dress that came down to her knees, blue and yellow stripped leggings, and clunky red Mary-Jane's. She asked them about this.

"Those were the clothes you were wearing when Master found you. Oh! Speaking of Master, Eraqus, Xehanort, go get her! She'd want to know Emilia's awake! OH! Emilia! Here's your bag!" Catherina said handing her a large black bag with a red cross on it.

"Who is 'Master-" Emilia started before Catherina cut her off.

"Where are you from? How did you get here? What's your world like? What's your favorite color? Do you always keep your hair in a braid? Are you nearsighted or farsighted? What's-" Catherina asked eagerly.

"Catherina, that's enough! You're confusing the poor girl," said a stern looking purple haired woman from the doorway. Upon the woman's entrance into the room, Catherina abruptly stood up and bowed.

"Sorry, Master. I guess I just got overexcited," Catherina said sheepishly.

"I know," said the woman, turning to Emilia. "Hello, my name is Rin. I am a Keyblade Master. I believe you have met my three pupils. May I ask your name?" said Master Rin.

"My name is Emilia Fletcher, ma'am," Emilia said, standing up and bowing.

"Catherina, go join Eraqus and Xehanort in the training yard while I speak with Emilia," said the woman smiling. Catherina pouted.

"Ngh…Okay," said Catherina, trudging toward the door.

"Oh, and Catherina? Try not to set anything on fire this time, all right?" Master Rin said over her shoulder.

"Yes, Master," said Catherina, sprinting down the hall.

"Now, do you know why you are here?" Rin asked Emilia, gesturing for her to sit down. Emilia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.

"No…not really," she said, defeated.

"You are here to learn to control your magic and take the first step toward your destiny. Though this is normally a place for Keyblade wielders to train and Keyblade wielders alone, I will allow you to train here," Rin told the bewildered Emilia.

"But I don't have any magic! I'm just an ordinary girl!" Emilia said.

"Are you really?" Rin asked, eyebrow arched. Emilia thought it over. Speaking an ancient language instinctively? Definitely not normal.

"I guess not…"

"I know this all must be very confusing for you, but in time you will learn to live with it. Now, my speech is over. You are free to look around the grounds. I'm sure Catherina will give you the grand tour when she is done training," Master Rin chuckled as she went to join her pupils.

Emilia sat there for a while as she looked through her bag. It had all sorts of herbs and bandages. Her watch was there, and a new, very curious object. It was a 16 pointed start charm about the size of her palm. It was light green. There was also a note. It looked very, very, very old.

To the Healer-

Be brave. Be strong. You will need these for the road ahead. Know this, I will always have your back.

K. Kerry

K. Kerry. So that was that strange girl's name. Emilia put everything in her bag and got up. She explored the grounds until dinnertime, when Catherina tackled her from behind in a hug. Emilia was indeed given the grand tour, and over a few days she got used to this strange new world. It seemed like only four (well, now five) people lived on it. Master Rin had to leave 5 days after Emilia arrived to talk to her colleague, Yen Sid about the on the state of the world(s). Emilia's training was postponed until it was a little more than two weeks since she had arrived. On the night before her training would begin, she checked her watch. The smaller hand was on the 2. She had begun her second hour.


	4. Day One Hour Two

"Wake up, Emilia! It's time to start training!" Catherina half-shouted, half-sang, before getting a pillow thrown at her face. Catherina, undeterred, grabbed Emilia by the foot and tried to literally drag her out of bed. Emilia groaned and got up, towering over the short Catherina. Emilia was tall and thin, but in a gangly way. She stumbled around her room while Catherina tried to hurry her up.

They sprinted down to the training field where Eraqus and Xehanort stood, smug smiles on their faces.

"Master's gonna kill you," Eraqus whispered to Catherina as she passed. She stomped on his foot as she walked by.

"Emilia, I know this is your first day of training, so I will grant you leniency, but Catherina you know better. You will accompany Emilia and myself up to the Summit where I will deal with your punishment," Master Rin said stoically. Eraqus and Xehanort snickered. "Eraqus, Xehanort, since you both seem to find Catherina's tardiness humorous, I believe you will find your own disorganized rooms hilarious. While I am away teaching Emilia, you two will clean the grounds, floor to ceiling. And no magic this time. Understood?"

"Understood, Master," the three Keyblade Masters-In-Training said, defeated.

"I'd hate to be you right now," Catherina said to Eraqus.

"I'd hate to be you right now. Nothing good ever happens on the Summit. Well, except training," Eraqus shot back.

"Pretty sure that's the only thing that happens on the Summit, Eraqus!"

"Pretty sure there's a first time for everything, Catherina!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Catherina said, as she and Eraqus continued bickering. Emilia turned to Xehanort.

"Are they always like this?" she asked, curiously.

Xehanort sighed. "Yes. Yes they are. Those two are so alike they can't stand each other. That's why I'm…happy to have you here. There's finally someone else to talk to."

"YOU'RE SUCH A BRAT CATHERINA!" Eraqus shouted, getting everyone's attention.

"ENOUGH! Emilia, do you have everything you need?" Master Rin asked.

"I didn't know what I'd need, so I brought everything," Emilia said sheepishly.

The journey up the mountain was not a hard one, just a bit long. Catherina insisted on singing on the way up.

"C'mon, Emilia! Just one song!" Catherina pleaded. She was currently goading Emilia into singing with her.

"I'm not very good at singing in front of people," Emilia said, looking down.

"Please! It's just me. You're among friends here!" Catherina said.

The gravity of those words hit Emilia like a ton of bricks. You are among friends here. You are not alone.

"Well…okay."

Finally, they reached the Summit. The wind was very strong and cold. Catherina nudged Emilia.

"Watch this," she whispered as Master Rin summoned her Keyblade and raised it above her head.

"Stopga," Master Rin said, as if she was commanding the winds to stop. And the wind obeyed her. Emilia felt a new level of respect for the Keyblade Master.

"One day, you will be able to do this too. But first, you must master the basics. Your first spell will be to conjure a small ball of fire," Master Rin told her.

For the first time in her life, Emilia felt brave.

"Where do I start?" Emilia asked.

"First you must summon your 'focusing element.' This is what takes your raw magical powers and channels them, allowing you to cast spells much easier. For Catherina, Eraqus, Xehanort, and I, our Keyblades serve this purpose. You must focus, and will it to appear."

It was about an hour before she finally got her 'focusing element' to appear. Emilia was a sleeping giant. It took a long time for her to get angry, but once she was, her wrath was to be feared. After a solid hour of failure, Emilia was angry.

'Appear, you useless piece of garbage!' Emilia thought angrily. The air in front of her glowed, and her star charm disappeared. In her hand now was a tall staff with a brown handle and a much larger version of her star charm on the end. Master Rin nodded approvingly.

"Good job. It usually takes much longer than that. It took me weeks to summon my Keyblade," Master Rin said.

"Xehanort was able to summon his Keyblade almost instantly," Catherina said.

"True. Emilia, I feel you may have used your emotions to summon your staff. This is a very dangerous thing to do. Each time you cast a spell, it must come from a calm and unemotional part of you, understood?" Master Rin asked.

"Yes Master Rin," Emilia said.

"Good. Now, breathe deeply. Feel the staff's power channel and focus your own."

Emilia did, and felt the connection, almost like it was alive.

"Picture a fire. Feel its warmth and smell the smoke. Focus on this with all of your energy, all of your being. Channel your power into the staff and cast the spell!"

Emilia felt a rush of adrenaline as she felt her power flow into her staff. The spell bubbled to her lips.

"FIRE!" Emilia shouted as a burst of flame shot out of her staff. The word felt garbled and foreign as she said, as if that wasn't the spell's true form.

In the crash that followed the adrenaline rush, Emilia was aware of the sound of clapping.

"Very impressive, Emilia. You are gifted indeed," Master Rin said. "You feel fatigued after using magic for a while. Your powers are still developing. Your body will compensate for this with your life energy. You should go sit down for a bit while Catherina works on her form and technique."

Emilia nodded and sat under a large tree as she watched Catherina train. Catherina's Keyblade was brown with a blue handle. She called it 'Earthshaker.' It looked too big for someone so short and Emilia realized that what she had mistaken for chubbiness was actually muscle. Catherina wasn't agile or gifted with magic, but what she lacked in those areas she made up for in raw power.

Emilia woke up in the middle of the night. She felt a hand cover her face. She couldn't see anything because her glasses were on the other side of the room. Emilia felt a scream rise in her throat.

"Hush, healer. I will do you no harm," said the telepathic voice that belonged to K. Kerry.

"Why- what are you doing?" Emilia whispered, terrified.

"I am speeding up the awakening of your powers. You can thank me for it later," the girl said before casting a sleep spell on Emilia.

Emilia excelled in her training from then on. She could cast spells in succession, mastering Fire, Blizzard, Aero, and Thunder in one week. One day, while Eraqus and Catherina were sparring, Master Rin called Emilia over.

"Emilia, you have been doing admirably in your training," she said. Emilia bowed.

"Thank you, Master," Emilia said, proud of her progress.

"However, because you have so much potential, I feel it would be best if you went to train with an old friend of mine, Yen Sid. While he is a Keyblade Master like me, he has an extensive knowledge of magic that I do not."

Emilia was silent, her mouth open in shock and horror.

"I'm sorry," she said finally. "Whatever I've done to deserve this, I'm sorry! Please don't send me away."

"Emilia, I'm not sending you away because you've done something wrong. This is what is best for you training," Master Rin said kindly before walking away.

Emilia stood there for a while, thinking about all that she was leaving behind. Talks with Catherina until 2AM, cooking with Xehanort because no one else could cook, and, yes, even Eraqus hitting on her. Silent tears started streaming down her face. Xehanort walked up behind her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She was leaving behind her three best, if only, friends. She wouldn't tell them, though. She would make the best of what little time she had left.

"Nothing," she said cheerfully, secretly wiping away her tears. "Now, Xehanort, you were going to tell me about that book on Keyblade myths and legends?"

"That's right! Well, it says that centuries ago, Keyblade wielder fought in a struggle called the Keyblade War…"


	5. Day One, Hour Three

**A/N Hello! Thank you, InfiniteBurn, for your reviews! They really do motivate me. I did try to make this chapter a bit longer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Well, I do own copies of the games, but not the rights to them.**

Eraqus woke up, thinking about the past few days. Emilia had been, if possible, nicer, and much more outgoing. Yesterday she had taught them all how to play a game called capture the flag. Eraqus and Xehanort had teamed up against Emilia and Catherina. Since only one person knew how to play the game, no one really won, but nobody cared. It was so much fun.

Eraqus knocked on Emilia's door after getting ready. After a minute with no response, he slowly opened the door. The room was empty and was devoid of anything that Eraqus could associate with Emilia. He started to panic.

"Emilia!" Eraqus shouted running down the hall. He was so focused on finding Emilia that he didn't notice Catherina barreling up the stairs. They crashed into each other and sat down for a bit, both developing headaches.

"Watch where you're going Eraqus!" Catherina said.

"Never mind that! Have you seen Emilia? All of her things are gone and I can't find her anywhere!" Eraqus said. Catherina shook her head.

"No, have you seen Master Rin anywhere? I can't find her anywhere either!"

"Have you checked outside?"

"Yeah, and all of the rooms. Maybe Xehanort knows something…."

Xehanort was in the middle of cooking breakfast when he heard two voices down the hall.

"XEHANOOOOOOORRRRTTTT!" Eraqus and Catherina shouted as they burst into the kitchen, gasping for air.

"Have you…seen…Master Rin…or Emilia?" Catherina asked. Xehanort blinked and got out a small sheet of paper.

"I take it neither of you saw the note?" he asked handing them the note he found when he woke up.

"Note? What note?" Eraqus asked, sitting on a stool.

"The one Master Rin left. It says, 'Eraqus, Xehanort and Catherina- Emilia and I have left to visit an old friend. I'll explain everything when I return, Master Rin.'"

By the time Master Rin got home, the three where bored to tears. Master Rin walked in, looking very tired. For the first time Catherina saw the age in her master's face.

"Where were you?"

"What's going on?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Where's Emilia?" Xehanort asked as Master Rin sat down. She motioned for everyone else to do the same.

"Emilia and I left early this morning to got to Yen Sid's tower. You all know I was there a few weeks ago. We were figuring out how to best train Emilia. Emilia is not a Keyblade wielder, and her studies will differ from your own. Yen Sid and I thought it best if Emilia was to train with him, since he is so well versed in magic, and I am not. Emilia is at Yen Sid's now, and will stay there for the remainder of her training," Master Rin explained.

"You sent her away?! How could you?" Catherin shouted, betrayal and tears in her eyes.

"Catherina-," Master Rin started trying to calm her down.

"No! You knew she was my best friend!" Catherina said, running to the workshop.

Xehanort found her there, by the special project they'd been working on.

"It was almost done too," Catherina said sadly.

In the middle of the room was something that looked an awful lot like a Keyblade Glider. It worked like one as well. Based off of Catherina's lion shaped glider and Eraqus' horse-like glider, Xehanort, Catherina, and Eraqus had been building a glider that looked like a griffin. It could travel the Lanes Between, and shrink down into a knickknack Xehanort called a Wayfinder. It was going to be given to Emilia so she could join the trio on their Mark of Mastery exam.

* * *

"Here is where you'll be staying. You may unpack, make yourself feel at home…I know you miss your friends but you may see them again sooner than you think."

With that the sorcerer left the room, leaving Emilia to unpack her things.

Eraqus and Master Rin had helped her make new clothes, since none of Catherina spare dresses would fit her. However, the only color material they had was various shades of blue and white. She and Eraqus, who was surprisingly good at sewing, had made some more dresses, some pants, and a beautiful t-shirt with a gold design embroidered on it. They even made some ribbons to tie back her hair with.

"Hiya there!" said an almost human size mouse. Emilia had been told about animals that were just like humans. Master Rin explained all of this so she wouldn't be shocked (or rude) when she met Yen Sid's other student, Mortimer Mouse. Emilia had seen him when she first met Yen Sid. Even with Master Rin's speech, she was still very surprised.

"Hello," she said softly. Without her friends, she had quickly reverted back to her shy ways.

"I'm Mortimer Mouse, from Disney Town! Where're you from?" He asked.

"…The Land of Departure." Emilia lied. Well, it technically wasn't a lie, but it was definitely wasn't the whole truth.

"Are ya a Keyblade wielder?" he asked.

"No. I'm, well, I'm supposed to be a mage," she answered honestly. "What about you?"

"Well, y'see, I'm kinda the leader of Disney Town. It's still a young and tiny town, but I know it has potential to be a bright, colorful place. With all of the creatures running about, I came here to learn how to protect my people."

"Dark creatures?" Emilia asked, her curiosity overpowering her shyness.

"Yeah. Everyone is so scared of 'em that they won't even talk about 'em, so we just call them the Unspoken. More and more people are falling mysteriously ill, and then their souls start to be swallowed by darkness, leaving a mindless monster behind."

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Emilia asked.

"No," Mortimer said solemnly. "Keyblades are supposed to work against them, because the heart is the only thing keeping the dark soul from devouring its own body. So if the heart if freed…"

"The soul rips the body apart," Emilia finished.

* * *

Dear Emilia,

I wish you were here. Eraqus is driving me crazy! He keeps bragging about his unique fighting technique Master Rin taught him yesterday. His is called Ars Arcanum, when clearly mine, Ars Solum, was way cooler. I, uh, I don't remember what Xehanort's was called. He teleported and used Sliding Dash a lot… it was pretty cool.

Anyway, in your last letter you asked about me if I knew about the Unspoken. I know about as much as you do on this, so I asked Master Rin. She said that no cure is known so far, but few people have actually tried. A lot of people are just so scared that the minute some is infected, they run away. Emilia, there is no cure for darkness. You can't shove light in to push out the darkness. Please don't get involved in this.

I'm glad to hear you learned your first healing spell. Eraqus'll need it if he doesn't GET OUT OF MY ROOM!...ahem, sorry about that. By the way, how is Mortimer doing? I heard his wife was pregnant. I wonder if it's a boy or girl.

My Mark of Mastery exam is fast approaching! One more week! Master Rin said that it will be a journey sort of exam, which is what Master Rin's master did for her exam. I've been practicing riding my Keyblade Glider so I can travel the Lanes Between.

Your Friend, Catherina

Dear Catherina,

Yes, Mortimer's wife, Melinda, is indeed pregnant. She's due in 3 months. Perhaps you'll see her on you Mark of Mastery journey. From what Mortimer tells me (and trust me, he tells me a lot) she's a bit like you. Kind, funny, and a bit feisty.

Catherina, where are you, Eraqus, and Xehanort from? Were you born in the Land of Departure, or are you from other worlds? Sorry if I'm prying, but I'm curious about other worlds.

Yen Sid has been teaching me the advanced spells. At this rate I'll be an official general mage in no time. If I want to specialize in a certain set of magic, he would be willing to teach me. I think I'd like to specialize in attack spells. I hope you get this letter before you start your journey. If you do , know that I'm always cheering for you!

Lots of Love,

Emilia

To Emilia-

I'm afraid Catherina has already left. The departure times are staggered by a day so that we have to rely on our own strength. By the time you get this letter, we will all be on our journeys. I'm quite nervous, though I'd never admit it to the others. As for our home worlds…I'm from a tiny island world, and Eraqus is from a simple town with a lot of horses. Or so he says. In all of the years I've known him, I've never actually asked the name of his home world. Catherina has never spoken about her home world. Her past is a very sore subject for her. I know she's lived with Master Rin for a very long time, longer than Eraqus and I have. I must conclude this letter as I need to get some sleep. My exam starts very early tomorrow. I do hope we'll see each other again.

-Xehanort

Emilia rubbed her tired eyes and yawned as she finished reading the letter. She took off her glasses and turned off the light, letting the steady sound of the rain lull her to sleep. She was almost asleep when she heard a knock on her third story bedroom window.

"Catherina?!"

**A/N Cliffhanger! Anyway, the Mortimer in this story is not the jerk from House of Mouse or any other Disney show/cartoon/movie. This Mortimer is an OC.**


End file.
